The Biome Brothers
by Red Stryker
Summary: Three simple tradesmen don't know what they get into when they accidentally unleash an ancient evil that's been hiding underground for millenia. Can they save the world of Craftia before it's too late?
1. Late at Night

A pickaxe broke through yet another block of stone. The agitated miner, still reminiscing over the day's events, silently cursed under his breath. The golden clock he pulled out of his tote bag said it was getting dark.  
>Grunting with displeasure, he lifted up his hefty iron pickaxe from the stone block it was now embedded in. Putting it in his tote bag, he quickly broke into a sprint, trying to beat the night. Hopefully supper's still warm,<br>he thought with a dry smile. As he neared the surface, he began to hear menacing groans from above. A zombie, one of the many hostile specimens inhabiting this dark world, turned to see the miner with keen night vision.  
>The zombie had him trapped. He had no weapons; he was only a simple man of the trade. At this rate, the zombie would just chase him back into the cave he had wanted so eagerly to escape. The old iron pickaxe will have to do, he thought. He poised the pickaxe directly beside the monster's head, and swung full-tilt. The pickaxe had never sunk into flesh before; it was hardened by the steel and the stone it mined so profoundly during its lifespan. It plunged into the flesh like a hot knife would plunge into butter. The miner stood back for a moment, taken by surprise how effective this mining tool was for the violent purpose of killing. He cursed himself yet again for wasting these precious seconds staring at this corpse like an vulture would scavenge prey. It disgusted him, the thought of taking lives, even the undead. Removing the now blood-coated pickaxe from the zombie's cranium, he cast it aside with hatred, hating the sight of blood. "I'm not a murderer", he said aloud, having more to to think about than ever for the days to come. He sprinted the rest of the way, not stopping until he was safe in his home. He shut the piston doors just as an arrow sunk into the wood behind him. There were two other tradesmen sitting about, appearing to be playing a game of chess, with hot leaf tea at the corner of the chess board. There were wolves at their heels, licking at their feet and begging for food. The fireplace was ablaze, almost enough to set the wooden house on fire, yet contained by the glass pane. One of the wolves licked the feet as to provoke laughter from the tradesman on the right. As he smiled and laughed, his eyes fell over onto the miner. His grin immediately gave way to a frown. "Where in the name of Notch have you been,<br>Jed?" The man said, getting up from his seat. The other tradesman who had not immediately noticed Jed put his tea down and also stood up. "I was just finishing up some mining, Axel," Jed replied. "We thought that the monsters got you for good this time!" The other tradesman who had not spoken yet said. "I'm sorry for worrying you, West," Jed apologized, wincing that he came back at 11:30. The wolves started whining as to warn their masters. Jed, thankful for the wolves to intervene, walked outside to check for intruders. A creeper, another harmful monster that lived here at night, crept slowly and silently towards the house. If the dogs hadn't barked, he probably wouldn't have noticed it. Considering that none of these men were warriors, it was only natural for them to flee the parlour straightaway, as Jed of course had not-so-subtly informed them. They all hid in the "Monster Evacuation Room" as it was called. It was a simple 5x7 block iron room with chests on either side. The chests contained mainly survival items, as they may need, in worst case scenarios, to retire to this room for quite a few days. West pulled out a clock, a simple golden trinket identical to Jed's. " Daylight's in 15 minutes," He said with a smirk, almost with triumph, although dripping with apathy. They had learned,  
>above all, to stay calm and quite uncaring during these stressful events. Better to be apathetic than to panic, thought Axel. Axel was always the thinker, always the one behind the plans. West and Jed relied on him sparingly, because after all, he was the eldest brother. Yes, the three tradesman were in fact brothers, Axel being the eldest, then Jed, then finally West. If one not knowing that they were related were to visit them, they wouldn't be able to tell. Mentioned before, Axel was the leader and philosopher, dealing with the villagers and paperwork. Jed was much more of a working type, being an expert at logging and mining. West was the farmer, having almost every animal specimen that his biome could handle. Yes, the brothers each lived in different biomes, on the border of each other. Axel, being the most experienced, set up his home in the frozen plains. Jed, being called by the forest's opportunities, moved to the roofed forest. West, enjoying heat and large trees to stay safe from danger, lived in the jungle. If someone was to draw a map of the biomes these brothers live in, Axel would be northernmost, Jed would be southernmost, and ironically, West would be westernmost. There was also a small village, Plainbelle, southeastern of these biomes, where the brothers would do business. The brothers, not being much of explorers, never really searched around the surrounding area. They were perfectly content here. West's talking all interrupted the thought of Axel, who indeed was thinking all this this entire time. "It's daylight, Axel!" "All right," Axel retorted. Axel didn't enjoy his deep thought being interrupted. Eventually, Axel and West left from Jed's home they had been staying in for the night. Along the rails,<br>the day's sounds were littered with sounds of burning and death. The monsters. Most monsters burn up when exposed to light, Axel thought. He smiled particularly at a skeleton, trying to crawl under a tree for shade while its body was engulfed in flames. Axel considered it retribution, that these evil monsters were dangerous and deserved death. In the middle of some more deep thinking, there was a sudden jolt, and Axel realized that somehow he had been derailed. It didn't take him long to figure out that something had pushed him off track, just when he hit the ground.


	2. Cave Sounds

Axel was questioning if he actually was living, or in heaven. The world around him appeared fuzzy and colourless, prompting him to shake his head. As soon as that action was performed, though, a terrible, pulsating pain rang through his head. He was definetely NOT in heaven. Looming above his head was an iron golem.

How could a simple golem attack me like this? Axel wondered. An iron golem, a rather neutral mob of the Overworld, were created to protect the defenceless villagers from evil mobs, like zombies. They were not meant for purposes such as attacking humans like Axel. Unless they were provoked...

The golem's metal arms interrupted his thoughts. They smashed into the ground next to his head, sending sprays of dirt particles all over his face. Temporaily blinded, Axel thought all hope was lost. He was like a sitting duck. Next time, this golem would not miss. He waited for the golem to smash his head in. Yet it never came. He looked above him, not believing what had happened. He winced when he spotted the golem beside him. Would the golem really mock him this way? Let him think he will live, then smash him into oblivion? Yet the golem did something unspeakable. It slowly, but surely, reached its hand towards him in a semi-friendly fashion. Axel, unsure of what else to do, accepted his hand. The golem almost comically yanked him up into the air with unimaginable force. Axel flew towards the ground, screaming and yelling as the golem caught him. The golem gently placed him down on the ground. Axel had no idea whether to be happy, relieved, angry, or scared. It just left him... confused. Why had the golem attacked him in the first place if a few minutes later he would help him off the ground?

_At West's House... _

West stared at his drink Ever since he left Jed's, he had felt... odd. Like someone, or something, was watching him.

He just couldn't shake the feeling. He HATED that feeling. Ever since he had discovered that dungeon... It was in... right, they didn't really record time here. He would say it was about two weeks ago. He'd been mining for coal, and getting a more than substantial quantity, he quit for the night. It was then the cave sounds were calling to him.

Some miners have mentioned it while mining deep underground. They hear ambient, yet mysterious sounds seeming to come from everywhere at once. Almost... musical. They nicknamed it "cave sounds". Although the people had their rumours, and the miners had their myths, it was really just natural phenomena. Or was it?

There was a prevalent legend, though, that whoever heard these sounds were haunted. Legend has it that when Notch created the world, Herobrine, king of evil, descended upon the land. No one, not even the omniscient Notch, knew not where he came from. He is the supposed center of evil, all evil mobs created merely from his presence. Notch and Herobrine had a great battle over this land, but in the end, Notch ultimately won. Although all of the evil mobs stayed, Notch had defeated Herobrine, breaking his soul into five pieces and sending it to the corners of the world. Instead of killing Herobrine right then and there, nobody knows why he didn't. Pity? Purgatory? Despair? Legend says, if you hear the cave sounds, you're close to once of the pieces.

It was then and there that West began searching, searching for these pieces that the world had forsaken. His pickaxe broke some mossy stone, opening up a cave of darkness. He held a torch up in front of himself, not being able to see very far. A looked to be a chamber. A chamber... with a drop! He prevented himself from falling to his death in a split-second. The chamber had a very abrupt drop smack dab in the center of it, almost asking a careless miner to fall in. The cave sounds were louder than ever now, echoing and reverberating off the walls. He heard a voice in the midst of it, screaming and crying. It seemed to be in the bottom of the pit. West felt terrible. Now matter how deafening his screams, he could do nothing. Nothing... at all... West woke up. He had fell into another one of his "sequences". He called them that. He would just drift into thought, always about the pieces, screaming in a crazed frenzy, attacked any objects around him until they ceased. His brothers, at his request, had timed the frenzies and created an average time. About 15 minutes was how long he suffered. It seemed much longer when he was actually_ experiencing_ it, though. He couldn't take it anymore. He would venture out TODAY and find the piece. That way the voices would stop haunting him.

_Meanwhile at Jed's house..._

Unlike the other two, Jed was having another relatively normal day logging.

He'd invented a new machine to chop logs and sort them. He was proud of the machine, spending so much time and effort on it that he considered it his child. He sat back in his house, watching the "Iron Lumberjack" lob away.

It was, undoubtedly, a peculiar thing; having 6 arms all with built-in blades, essentially being a giant iron box with arms sticking out. The arms constantly swayed around in a rotating motion, taking down half a tree in one swipe. The logs fell into hoppers on the top and sides of its head, into chests accessible by a wooden door near the backside.

It was powered by a few redstone blocks internally. The Iron Lumberjack also couldn't roll away either, for Jed had made an interesting and innovative out-of-bounds system. Since redstone torches powered redstone dust, he put redstone torches on the sides of trees. They powered the dust which ran to the blocks, powering the robot. Yet, once the signal is cut off, like in the event of going too far, there were no more torches to power it. So it stopped. Jed was still smiling about how he had pulled that off. The only problem was hauling it back to the house. Maybe he'd have to invent something else to fix that... In the middle of his deep thought, his machine suddenly stopped working. That was indeed strange, since the robot didn't go out-of-bounds quite yet. Suddenly it did a 180 and faced him. Jed sensed darkness. He had developed quite a sense for evil during the times him and his other two brothers had to fight for survival against nature. No one talks about those days... or rather, no one wants to remember them. He took a deep breath and looked back to the reality of the situation. A giant robot HE, of all people, had created was going to kill him. Or _try _to kill me, thought Jed with a sudden burst of confidence. The robot suddenly emitted copious amounts of dark, purple stuff. That's all Jed could describe it as. It was actually dark aura, spurting out from any hole in the iron body. Jed now realized that dark, evil magic was powering the machine instead of redstone. Everyone knew what dark magic did to things. It corrupted them, turned them into things that unleashes all the darkness inside of you, transforming you. The machine was now a trademark purple, with glowing lines running to and fro all over the body, and purple flames emerging from the hoppers. The blades turned into giant battleaxes. The robot, if Jed could even call it that anymore, was obviously not going down without a fight. And if Jed was to survive, he'd need to act quickly.


	3. Releasing the evil

An ax hurled away at Jed's face, with Jed dodging it just in time. The ax plunged into the ground next to him. That was close, he thought. The robot charged at him, axes swinging, faster than it had ever been. Jed rolled out of the way, but it was too late. One of the swinging axes caught him in the head, sending him flying into a tree. Good thing it was the flat part of the ax, thought Jed with a rough smile. Even the attacking robot didn't know that it hit Jed. It looked around, trying to find Jed. This was his chance! He looked at the dropped, or rather, thrown ax that was embedded in the ground. If only he could pull it out...

_West POV_

West was finally finished packing. It might be a long time before he comes back. If I ever DO, thought West bitterly. West was usually a happy and optimistic person, but this shard... It was driving him insane. If he died trying to get rid of the voices, it'd work anyway. It's probably quite peaceful when you're dead, thought West. Was there an afterlife? There wasn't an answer. The only way to find out is to, well, die. To him, it wasn't worth the risk. He could care less if he entered heaven or not. The brothers didn't really believe in those sorts of things anyways.

Jed used to be utterly pious and constantly prayed to Notch. Then the survival days came. When the brothers had to fight for survival. Those days were incredibly gritty and sad. The brothers were only boys then. They didn't have any weapons- they didn't know how to craft. If only there was some sort of tutorial or something...

They all lost their faith then. Notch had forsaken them. It was then that salvation came. The brothers didn't believe Notch had saved them- to them he didn't exist. They had believed that somehow, villagers on horseback were searching for the rare acacia tree when they had stumbled upon the three in a savanna- lost and naked. They had no memory of who they were before, so the villagers clothed them and took them in as their own. They proved to be useful- harder working than any villager boy- so the villagers believed they were of farm descent. A lonely villager couple with no children adopted them and raised them as their own. That's how they came to be tradesmen.

West finally arrived at the chamber where the supposed "soul shard" was. All this time, these things had been running through his head- some pretty deep thoughts. This was unsettling for him. It was usually Axel with the thinking and the calculating. Lately, it was him and Jed who had been thinking about things and not Axel. It was if his whole world was turned upside down!

The cave sounds were louder than ever, enough to burst an eardrum or two. The sounds shifted into something, almost like a strange tongue. The sounds were calling him, calling him to jump in. He tried to shake it off, but the ghost that was haunting him said otherwise. He peered over the edge. It was too dark to see anything below, so he didn't know exactly how deep this crater was, or if there were any safe spots to land on without being killed. It was the epitome of the leap of faith. Yet the voices were calling him, saying that it's safe, that he'll be fine if he jumps. "What if there's no water?" West said. "But what if there is?" the voices replied.

So he did something he would probably later regret. He jumped in.

_Axel POV  
><em>Axel was still wondering about the golem when he decided to go to town. He needed some bread anyways. There wasn't much for food down here in the icy plains. For a guy who thought things through, he'd broken his mean streak. He hitched up the wolves to the sled and took off. He arrived at town just in time to trade with a farmer who ran a downtown shop. "Two emeralds for a loaf of bread!?" Axel screamed in disbelief. "What mutiny IS this?!" The villager calmly replied, "You don't like it, sir? Don't buy it." Axel scowled. "Fine." Axel reluctantly handed over two shiny green emeralds. The villager's face lit up. Axel took the bread, and was about to head home when he noticed something... dark. It was blazing with purple fire, a trademark of dark magic. And it was heading straight for him. Axel couldn't dodge the attacker in time. The energy smashed violently into his chest, resulting in him landing about 15 blocks away. Why did this day have to be so painful? Painful prices, painful enemies. What is this world coming to? The attacker flew right over his head, not even paying attention to him. First the iron golem, and now this? What is with enemies attacking him and not finishing him off? At last, one of the librarian villagers noticed him. "Oh, my!" She exclaimed. After the had took him into her home, she had explained to him how the dark energy had emerged from the ground, and where. She also noted how West had not been seen for hours. That worried Axel. Usually West returns on time. What if...? Axel was starting to piece everything together, bit by bit. West was haunted by those dreams. The same place he heard cave sounds was where the old librarian said the monster escaped. If that was the case, West may be in grave danger.


	4. Peril

**So I apologize for the lack of author's notes. TBH, I didn't know how to make one. :D **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy the latest and greatest, (well, maybe not greatest) chapter! Enjoy!**

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><p>Axel was too busy sprinting down the path to notice Sanil, the brew maker's apprentice. He tried to stop Axel, but Axel shoved past him, not even acknowledging him. How rude, thought Sanil. He's usually a nice and observant fellow. Something must be wrong. Sanil, stealthily as he could, sneaked along, trying to avoid Axel's attention. Sanil, not exactly being the master of stealth, caught the glare of Axel more than a few times.<p>

_Axel POV_

Axel wanted to punch Sanil in the face. Couldn't the bloke realize there was more important business to do right now? What an idiot. If Axel hadn't been racing to save his brother, he would have reprimanded this whelp badly. All of Axel's thoughts of anger were erased when he found the entrance to the chamber.

"Thank Notch!" He exclaimed, even though he didn't really believe in Notch. It wasn't as easy to get in the chamber as he thought, though. It was riddled with traps, but on the bright side, West had set off most of them. That guy always had a knack for avoiding death, thought Axel with a smile. He hoped that had come into effect now. He heard a noise behind him. A monster? No, of course not.

It had to be Sanil. To be honest, Axel would rather fight a monster than have to deal with this kid. Heck, this guy _was _a monster. "What do you want, Sanil?" Sanil sheepishly entered, which almost made Axel feel bad for him. Axel's feelings could turn on a dime like that. Not that he suddenly liked him, though. He just had pity on him. "I-I was w-wondering if I could h-h-help you." Sanil barely mumbled. _Now _Axel felt bad. For getting this under experienced child into this. "No, Sanil, get back to the village." Sanil flinched. He always did that when Axel did even the slightest bit of rejecting him. "I-I k-know where West i-is!" Sanil suddenly said, somehow lighted up. That was impossible, Axel thought. He's just trying to make me bring him along. Axel, not wanting to talk to him anymore, just agreed. "Ok, Sanil, I believe you, come along with me if you like. Remember to watch out for traps and scary, evil monsters though." Sanil flinched again, and began shivering.

Axel continued his trek cautiously, being extra careful to avoid the stalactites that could fall and impale him and Sanil any second. Sanil accidentally set off a simple pressure plate trap that shot multiple poisoned arrows at him and Axel. Axel just managed to pull Sanil out of the way before an arrow punctured his stomach. " I told you that there were traps." Axel simply said.

_West POV_

West felt like he was falling forever. His sense of dread was growing each second he plummeted, causing him to scream for help. Not that any one could hear his cry. Jed and Axel were probably sitting comfortably at Jed's house, drinking tea and playing chess that night when Jed had taken so long to arrive. His horror multiplied when he imagined Jed and Axel, worried sick, searching for him and probably never finding him because of his stupidity. He hadn't even thought twice about jumping into the hole. Then again, it felt like he wasn't actually moving, that something was compelling him to jump. He expected to hit bedrock if he kept on freefalling like this. Instead, he smashed into some water waiting for him at the bottom of this seemingly endless crater. Notch had truly been watching over him this time, he thought with a smile. It might have even restored his faith in Notch at that point. Then his smile quickly faded. He realized that there was enough deep water so that he could survive the long and treacherous fall, but he would have to face the ordeal of returning back to the surface without drowning. He kicked off of the bottom of the well of water, keeping record of how much air he had in his lungs. It was weird how every Craftian knew precisely how much health or oxygen they had until they would die. It was as if a meter popped up in their face saying how well you are. The people documented health, oxygen, and hunger into meters to gauge how well you were. It was called the HUD, or Healthy Until Dead meter. Right now on his HUD, he had 5 oxygen bubbles left until he started taking damage from lack of air. The worst of it was, since it was pitch black, he had no idea how long it was until he broke the surface. Maybe Notch hadn 't blessed him after all. Maybe he had cursed him.

_Jed POV_

Jed was currently boasting the giant cursed ax the evil robot lumberjack had thrown at him. Sure, it was so heavy that he had to drag it, but that didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was survival. If Jed could survive and maybe even win this fight, he would feel great, even though he was destroying his beloved invention. It was a destroy-or-be-destroyed kind of situation. So as Jed readied his ax, he felt astronomical when the ax sliced off an arm. Unfortunately, though, that had robbed him of the element of surprise. The robot whirled around again, smacking Jed for a second time into the trees.

This time, though, Jed was in plain sight. Fortunately enough, though, the robot had boosted him (in a way) up into the trees. While everything was temporarily blurry, he could still generally find his way along. He just might be able to use this to his advantage. He scrambled, awkwardly enough, to his vantage point near the rear of the robot. The robot, attempting to stop Jed in the process, did what lumberjacks do best- cut down trees. Tree after tree fell, and each time Jed jumped off of a falling tree onto a new one. When Jed reached the last tree, Jed let the robot cut it. He put all of his weight forward. He hoped that the last thing he had to eat- jalapeno peppers- would support him now. The tree almost fell back, but with the help of Jed's constant stomping, the tree at last fell on the robot. Jed used the fallen tree as a bridge to get onto the robot's head. Yet the robot was long from done. The fiend spun around in constant 360 degree circles. Jed clung on for dear life as the robot attempted to throw Jed off. Jed's red beard was blocking his sense of vision, so he was pretty much lost in a red tornado. He slowly but surely climbed down from the robot's head to its rear door. Throwing it open, he crawled in, trying to shut the door behind him. There was an orb of purple fire hovering above the furnace of the robot. Dark magic. Why had dark magic even picked the robot as a target? Very unusual. A sudden jolt threw him into an iron wall, then the iron ceiling. He fell back down onto the iron floor. He was convinced that he had cracked a few ribs. He had to get the job done. He painfully crawled towards the orb, wielding a spare poker from the robot's furnace. The orb left the circuits and slammed right into the spot where Jed had cracked a rib. The robot stopped twirling around, throwing Jed out of the door, into the middle of nowhere. Jed smashed into the ground where he landed. Am I just a glutton for punishment?

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><p><strong>Jed sure is a glutton for punishment. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! If you like it, don't hesitate to leave a like or follow and I'll be a happy camper! Anyways, thanks for your continued support and I look forward to reading your stories as well!<strong>


	5. Big Ideas

**So here is another chapter about the Biome Brothers. Huzzah! :D So hopefully you enjoy, and don't forget to check out TheZombieThief. He's included Axel in his story- The Elements of Minecraft. So, yeah, check that out, and enjoy, you awesome people!**

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><p><em>Axel POV<em>

Axel couldn't believe his ears. A scream had rung out through the halls, loud and clear. It was obviously West's scream. Axel had hoped with all of his heart that West had not met his demise. Axel couldn't live without his brothers. They were his only friends, and they stood up for him as well as he stood up for them. He hoped that Jed had a better outcome than West.

Axel quickly pulled along Sanil, sprinting once again down the trap-riddled path. He dodged spikes and fake blocks with precision until Sanil and him entered the chamber. Somehow, Sanil and him managed to avoid all of the traps without being hurt. It must be a skill of mine, thought Axel. He looked over at Sanil. Sanil was shaking and shivering like a madman, but it looked like he was fine. Axel peered down down the long and dark chamber, the cave sounds constantly echoing throughout the cave. West was nowhere to be seen. This confirmed Axel's suspicions; West had fell down the hole. There was no hope now. West was dead.

_West POV_

West was so glad that he was alive. He had managed to escape the watery death trap without taking too much damage. He had escaped quickly by rebounding off of each wall, getting higher and higher until breaking the surface. He crawled as best as he could in the pitch darkness onto some dry land to rest. He still couldn't believe that he survived the long fall down, and the energy-sapping swim up. He just lay there for a few seconds, catching his breath and trying to take a bearing of the land around him. The final test of his endurance was escaping this hole in the ground. He doubted that he could, because it was a very long climb up.

He got up to pull out a pickax from his tote bag when there was a momentary flash of blue. It was blinding , since his eyes had grown so accustomed to the dark. Since it was so bright, when the flash ceased, he had a clear image in his head. The flash appeared to be in some form of writing, though which one he didn't know. It flashed for a second time, even brighter, which West had to fully cover his eyes for. The flash was so bright that it lit up the entire space he was stuck in. It was a perfect square, going from up to down, and the flashing thing was a sort of flat steel embedded in the ground. There was blue lettering on it; that is what lit up the entire space.

He looked up and saw two figures looking down. It was Axel! The other one wasn't Jed though; he wondered why. West hollered, "Hey, Axel, over here!". Axel appeared to look down. He was about to say something, but his voice has drowned out by the cave sounds West whirled around to see the artifact pull itself out of the ground, and shrink in size, small enough for someone to hold. He gently gripped the shard, and then the world went white.

_Jed POV_

All Jed could remember was the pain, the aching, terrible pain in his chest and stomach. Him and his fellow brothers may have gotten lucky the first time getting rescued in need, but there weren't any acacias out here. The villagers all thought that those three brothers could manage fine. These guys were toughened now; they could fare well on their own. And for the most part it was true.

Jed stared humiliated at the ground. Only 1 year out here, and he already needed assistance. He cursed himself for ever inventing that machine. It wasn't really his fault; after all, who could even guess that his Iron Lumberjack could brutally mangle him? The pain was too intense for him even to move. This would be an embarrassing death, being left to die by his own invention in the backyard of his house. He could have thought of much more heroic ways to die. Dying for his country. Dying while saving a princess. Dying while destroying Herobrine. Dying while sacrificing himself for his brothers. No; instead, he died pitifully outside, staring at the dirt, barely even contributing to society. How embarrassing. Now he didn't even want anyone to rescue him.

_Sanil POV_

Sanil was going to be in a _huge _amount of trouble. Why didn't he stay away from Axel? It was Axel's charisma. Something drew Sanil to him. But because of that, Sanil was reluctantly dragged from the trap-riddled halls of the chamber, and back into the village. It wasn't hard to get back out of the chamber because Sanil had set off all of the traps anyways.

He was back in boring old Plainbelle, the most boring of boring communities. Even it's _name _was boring. Plainbelle. Argh. His villager mother was not happy at all when he returned. She said she was worried sick or something like that. Danmont, his mentor. The art of potion, or "brew" as slang called it, making was boring too. Why did he have to be raised be this uber-boring family?

He wanted to be a manager like Axel, or a miner like Jed. Those guys were his heroes, even if at times they didn't enjoy his company. Sanil wanted to go places, craft, and explore the world around him. He had big ideas, just confined temporarily in this small town. Sanil knew it was a big world; the legends said that the world was infinite. No one in town believed in the legends. They said that he had his head in the clouds, that has was a dreamer. The villagers were too focused on their work to see the world. They thought that there was nothing out there, that the world wasn't worth exploring. He would make it out of town eventually. And when he did, he would be the world-renowned scientist and adventurer Sir Sanil, king of the world!

**Ooh! Looks like Sanil has some big ideas! OK, guys, remember to like, follow, and PM me! *Insert something funny here***


	6. Escape

**Hello, and welcome back to another** **chapter of The Biome Brothers! Even though I'm not getting reviews saying this, I know this story is kind of boring, but in the future things will heat up! I promise! Anyways, enjoy!**

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><p><em>Axel POV<em>

Hope was now in place. Just when Axel was convinced that West was gone, hope was back! Somehow, a blue flash had lit up the ginormous hole underground. It puzzled Axel because Jed couldn't have managed to pull off a blue flash on his own. Axel doubted that West even had torches. Danmont, Sanil's mentor, had found them and taken Sanil back to town.

Axel felt bad for keeping Sanil away from Danmont. He should have thought about the villagers instead of himself. Axel could be like that sometimes. He worried about himself and his brothers a lot. Don't get me wrong, he loved the townspeople and the world, it was just that his brothers came first.

Axel peered down at West. Axel was pretty sure that West wasn't in earshot, but then again, the cave could echo well. It was deafening, the shout being magnified many times over because of the structure of the cave. If the cave sounds were so loud, that must have meant that they weren't loud in real life, but just magnified by the cave, Axel thought.

"West!" Axel yelled at the top of his lungs. Somehow, though, West appeared to not be able to hear him. It was then that Axel noticed that West's eyes were shooting out bright white light. The light was even more brilliant than the radiating blue light. West was standing there, unresponsive, grasping that odd shard. That was obviously the object making West vegetative.

Axel hated to do this, but he had to abandon West for a few minutes. He couldn't rescue West alone, and nothing could get West, considering the crater. Axel bolted down the path leading up to the surface, taking care to avoid the spikes on every wall. Why did West have to be so stupid? What could you possibly say to someone to make them jump down a giant cliff? Here, I'll pay you a few emeralds if you jump to certain death? No; there must be a reason. Axel would get Jed, maybe the entire village, and they would help West out of this mess.

_Jed POV_

Jed woke up in Axel's house. Who had dragged him there? Maybe the robot was just a dream. Never mind, Jed thought as he rolled over and pain instantly sprung to his chest and stomach. He looked over in the kitchen area and spotted Axel making some soup.

Axel's face looked up from the dish at Jed. "You were hurt, so I brought you here." That was all Jed needed. "Why did you?" Jed shamefully asked. "What do you mean?" "I mean, why would you help me when I was such an idiot?" Axel's face practically turned to stone hearing that. "How were you an idiot?" Asked Axel. "You see, my own creation beat me up and left me to die."

Axel had to stifle laughter. "You mean the one that you've been working on for months?" "Yes, Axel, the one that I've been working on and dreaming about for months." Jed replied, humiliated. While Axel was stifling his giggles, Jed was stifling his tears. His Iron Lumberjack. How could it be so cruel? The idea eludes him for months, so he stressed and grumbled over the blueprints enough. When it was actually constructed, it was made fun of and laughed over. Now, on the first test day, when Jed had thought all the work was over, he was forced to cut a limb off his machine, and then almost in retaliation was wounded by it.

Axel, however, was more concerned about West. It had been 15 minutes since he'd left him

there. Maybe Axel should check on him. "I'm going to check on West." Axel called, worriedly, as he pulled his coat on. "What happened?" Jed asked, as he knew that tone in Axel's voice. A worried tone. He always had that tone when something bad happened to a brother. "West's in trouble. He fell down a crater." And Axel left Jed openmouthed as he sprinted out of the door into the frosty cold night.

_West POV_

Visions were running through West's mind like a giant web of information. Visions of wars, of triumphs and victories and of failures. Of the great battle between Notch, ruler of existence, and Herobrine, infamous leader of corruption and evil. Every flower created by Notch was another wilted by Herobrine. Was Notch only good, and Herobrine only evil? Was it that black and white, that crystal clear, that there was good guys and bad guys? Or was it more gray in colour? Was Notch really that good, and Herobrine that bad?

All of these thoughts were pulsing through his mind from the shard he was holding. Was there more that the legends weren't telling them? Something darker, more truthful, more realistic. Something that the old ones weren't spoon-feeding them with, something that they were holding back? This shard, West could tell, was holding many key secrets to the world, and to the soul shard legend. There was definitely more to tell, that the myth about Herobrine's soul wasn't so simple.

West's head was trembling violently. If this shard kept on informing him of these things, his head just might explode. Notch being bad? Herobrine being good? West was on the brink of insanity when the shard dropped from his hand. Suddenly, as if nothing had happened, the thoughts were gone. He watched, as if in slow motion, the shard slowly falling through the air. It finally reached the ground where it didn't break, but instead stayed stuck into the stone.

West was gaping at the piece when a voice snapped him out of it. It was Axel. West was suddenly brought back to reality. How hungry he was, how depleted his health was, how much he longed to be out of this horrid hole. "Axel!" West shouted with delight. Yet Axel was slowly fading away as the shard stopped glowing. "No!" West screamed as his only slim chance of hope faded away from him.

He felt around for the shard in the darkness, and finally found it when he heard a voice telling him to climb. Just as everything was lit up by the shard, he found Axel telling him to climb. Was he insane? How in the world could West climb something so steep with no footholds? West suddenly remembered his tote bag. He'd packed everything in it!

He rummaged through the tote bag until he found a stone pick and some apples. He ravenously ate the apples, most of them in one gulp. He stared up at the wall with renewed energy. If mountain climbers could climb mountains, he could do this. West shoved the shard in his tote bag and prepared to climb.

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><p><strong>If you got to these author's notes, PM me saying "Escape", and I'll follow, review, and give you a shoutout in my next chapter's author's notes! So stay tuned and keep on writing! <strong>


	7. Rescue

_West POV_

West was not having trouble so far when it came to climbing this gigantic wall. The practice was fairly easy; dig your pickax into the wall, pull yourself up, take your other pickax (West had two pickaxes), and plunge it into the wall, pull other pickax out, and repeat. By now, West was about five sixteenths up the wall, which was pretty good at this rate.

Above the wall he could hear Axel cheering him on. Axel was throwing down some rope for West to climb up, once West made it up to the rope, of course. Everything seemed to be going well so far. Hopefully Murphy's Law had mercy on him. OF COURSE MURPHY'S LAW DOESN'T HAVE MERCY ON ANYONE! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!

West thought this when one of his pickaxes broke when its durability gave. West went plunging down the hole as Murphy's Law came into effect. Unfortunately, West wasn't above the water this time. West had been so overcome with excitement that he didn't realize if his pickaxes broke, which they certainly would, considering the size of this wall, he would smash right into the unforgiving stone ground.

Thankfully, West was thinking again. He stabbed his remaining pickax into the wall, hoping, no, _praying _that the pickax would support him when he fell. Sparks were flying as West slid down the wall. Somehow the pickaxes' durability was low but not broken as West less-than-gracefully slid down the ground. West looked up at Axel, who was struggling with the rope.

It appeared that he had neared the end of the rope. West would have to climb up to the rope with his limited durability pickax. Suddenly West's confidence faded. I hope I make it out alive...

_Jed POV_

Jed was just waking up from a dreamless sleep when Danmont and Sanil burst into the house.

"Didya hear, didya hear?" Sanil burst.

"Be silent, Sanil." Danmont interjected just as Sanil was going to go on a roll.

"Have you heard, Jed? Your brother, West, has fallen in a giant crater."

Jed looked up sleepily. "Whaa...?"

Danmont repeated himself. "West has fallen in a crater."

Those words suddenly woke up Jed. He remembered! The time he had woken up in Axel's house. He thought it was all a dream! West! Jed tried his hardest to get up, but the pain didn't allow him to. He fell back on the couch. Sanil and Danmont looked on with sorrow.

"Is... Is West okay?" Jed croaked.

"Yes, West is fine. He-"

"JUMPED DOWN A HOLE!" Hollered Sanil excitedly, not being able to hold it back anymore.

"SANIL!" Danmont yelled angrily.

Jed croaked in pain. "Stop yelling." He barely managed to say.

"Sorry." Said both Sanil and Danmont in unison.

Jed looked at both of them. All Jed did was motion for his soup. He didn't care if it was cold or not; he was as hungry as a wolf. Sanil handed him the soup, taking care not to spill it as it was still hot. He tried to eat his soup, but coughed loudly and it fell to the floor.

"Whatever." Jed croaked as Danmont helped him up. Danmont was good for reading people's minds. Being an experienced teacher and mentor, it was a natural skill. Both Sanil

and Danmont helped him walk to the mine carts. Jed was going to see West, and no injury would stop him.

_E! Axel POV_

Axel was still cheering West on as Danmont and Sanil arrived helping Jed walk. His first reaction was to yell in surprise, but he didn't want to accidentally let go of the rope he had in his hands. So he normally spoke.

"Excuse me, Danmont, but why in the name of Notch did you bring along Jed?" Axel calmly said.

"He wanted to see West." Sanil smiled.

Axel just stared at them.

"He's sick! He probably doesn't even know what he's saying!"

"I know what I'm saying, Axel..." Jed slowly and painfully said. "Now let me see West."

Axel reluctantly let him peer over the edge. West was doing well; he was almost an arm's length away from the rope. And then it happened. Jed was leaning too far, and he slipped. He fell over the edge. Yet Axel was fast enough. He caught Jed's undershirt just in time. Axel was in a serious situation; Jed in one hand, West in the other.

Axel tried to tell West to get off the rope. Axel realized that it was too late as West's enduring pickax finally broke and he jumped on the rope. The force of the jump almost pulled him over the edge! Danmont and Sanil caught him just in time as he was being slowly dragged over the edge.

"Gotcha!" Sanil said loudly and with triumph as Danmont pulled Axel back up over the edge. Suddenly an idea sparked in Axel's mind. What if he could swing West over to Jed? That way, his left hand would be free, and with Danmont and Sanil he could pull them up!

"Danmont, I'm going to swing West over to Jed. Be ready to support my right arm. Ok?"

Danmont nodded, silent with the effort of holding Axel in place.

"West, I'm going to swing you over to Jed, and you'll bring him to the rope, alright?"

West looked up, sweat pouring from his face. "Ok."

"Here goes; 1, 2, 3!" Just as the word "three" left Axel's lips, Jed dropped from his arm. If Jed was to survive, West couldn't miss this catch.


	8. Shard

**Ok guys, so if you haven't noticed, there was a contest. I said that if you pm'ed me"Escape", you would get a shoutout, review, and follow. Well, that contest is over since, well, no one read the author's notes. But that's ok! Now there's a new action-packed episode of The Biome Brothers. Enjoy! **

West had to make this catch. His brother's life was literally on the line here. It was a scary thought, having your own brother's life on _your _hands. Everything was as if it was in slow motion. Jed's hand was slowly moving down. West outreached his.

And... he caught it! West was in disbelief! After Murphy's law had been so cruel to him, he thought it would have dealt the final blow by not letting him get to his brother in time. Axel looked down at West. He... did he catch Jed?

Axel couldn't tell, since West was blocking Jed from view. Yet Jed wasn't falling. Sure enough, West swung back on the rope like a trapeze artist, Jed in arms. Danmont, Sanil, and Axel all let their breath go at the same time.

"West! You did it! You caught him!" Sanil yelled in excitement at the sight.

"Not yet, Sanil. We get to get to the top of the wall now." West said as calmly as he could. Heck, he would have outbursted like Sanil if Danmont wasn't present. Axel looked up at Danmont, sweat pouring.

"Danmont, the rope." Danmont nodded and reached out for the rope. The rope suddenly slipped out of Axel's hands, though. And Danmont, as quick as he was, couldn't catch it in time. Yet somehow, a blur shoved past him and caught the rope just in time. It was... _Sanil_?

Indeed, Sanil had the rope in both hands. Even though Sanil was fast, he screamed in pain as the weight of rope made it rip across his hands. This time, though, since Danmont was ready, a lightning-fast blur of a hand struck out and grabbed the rope. Axel came behind Danmont and pulled.

The two men pulled together, with all their might, and lifted West just in grabbing range of the edge of the wall.

"West, grab on..." Axel said under strained breath. The strength was dwindling and West and Jed practically gained 100 pounds.

"S-Sanil... grab the... extra pickaxe..." Danmont barely whispered, he too struggling with the pressure. Sanil was freaking out with all this stress. What if I can't find it in time? What will happen? A voice spoke to him though. An ambitious voice. One of the many in his mind calling out to him.

_Come on, Sanil. Be brave. You'll find the pickaxe in time! Isn't this what you always wanted? More attention? Well, this is your chance!_

Sanil agreed with the voices as he rummaged viciously through the spare backpack laying in the corner of the room everyone was in. Apple, no. Shovel, no. Gross squishy thing, no. Ah! He felt the cool stone of the pickaxe. Pulling it out, he waved vigorously at Danmont.

"I-I got it, Danmont! I _have _it!" Sanil looked at Danmont. He couldn't even answer under the strain. Sanil could see the rope slowly sliding out from beneath his hands. Sanil looked over the edge. There was West!

"West! Here!" Said Sanil almost hysterically.

"Thanks, bud." West quickly spoke as he slammed the pickaxe into the stone.

"Let go!" West said as soon as he put the full weight on the pickax.

A great relief came over both Danmont and Axel simultaneously as the pressure lifted. It wasn't over yet, though; West's left hand was occupied with Jed, so someone had to come down and pull him up.

Axel realized this immediately. He began tying the rope around his waist when Danmont looked at Sanil.

"You're going to help me pull him, right?" Danmont smirked.

"I know, I know, I- wait, what?" Sanil said with utter confusion. Danmont, wanting me to _help _him? Wow!

"Sure thing, Danmont! " Sanil said with pure glee. "I'll go over here, no, that would be dumb, no I'll go over there and-"

"Sanil." That was all Danmont needed to say as Sanil instantly calmed down.

"We can do this together, alright?"

"Y-yeah."

Axel began lowering himself ever so slowly, or rather as quickly as the work of Sanil and Danmont would permit. Axel looked down at West.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine. Worry about Jed."

"I _am _worrying about Jed."

Axel outreached his hand. As West gripped it, Axel motioned to Danmont to pull them up. This was the hard part, at least for Sanil and Dan. Suddenly, there was a ripping sensation, and they all spotted it at once: the rope was fraying.

Axel reacted instantly. Using his feet, he propelled himself and the latter in the air. In midair, West used his pickaxe to stop in place. Using this method, they might be able to beat the rope's fraying. They leaped about twice more before the rope snapped completely. The rope flew past them, sinking into the darkness.

Suddenly worrying about his survival, Axel snapped. He wanted to get out of this wretched hole that I've been talking about for three chapters. He let West take hold of Jed again as he jumped off of the suspended pickaxe, making a mad leap into the air for freedom.

And surprisingly, he made it. Yes, just as Axel thought he had overcalculated the jump, his hand brushed against the stone edge. Axel grabbed on for dear life. The thought of the only thing separating him from death was the stone ledge entered his mind. He looked down at the pickax his brothers were holding on to. He had jumped 5 or 6 blocks!

There was no time for marveling, though, as Danmont placed some spare cobblestone in a path formation for the two latter brothers to walk on. Why hadn't he thought of that? In all his desperation, a few blocks could have saved them? It was a flaw of Axel's.

Axel could think practically, but in tense situations like these, well, let's say he couldn't. He could be an apparent genius at times, but only in the comfort and safety of home. Axel realized now that true bravery came from people who stepped out of their comfort zone, and true courage from those who faced their fears. Everyone had fears. The only way to be fearless was to deal with your fears.

West helped Jed walk up the makeshift steps to victory. As soon as West reached the top, he fell to the ground and kissed it.

"I-I can't believe I made it out alive..." West looked up gratefully.

"Thank you, Danmont and Sanil, for helping get me out of here. And you too, Axel, for doing the things you did."

'No problem' was all Axel could say, still in shock that everyone had made it out alive and he had jumped up 6 blocks!

_Three days later_

West woke up, still happy that he was alive! Even after the terrors of that struggle, somehow the shard had managed to stay in his bag. He felt guilty for not telling anyone about it, especially when they saved his life. Yet now, the voices were gone. The haunting ones, his ghost... all of it had faded away with the darkness of that cave. Even the cave sounds left.

West also felt guilty about the 'release'. That's what the voices called it. They said,'Release him, and you'll be fine.' Liars. As soon as he jumped in, a hysterical, almost insane laugh echoed through the chamber. A blast of pure dark magic went flying by, right past him. It must have been in the shard!

West decided to go to the hospice to visit Jed. Thank Notch he was feeling better. The nurses said nothing major had been done, but it had gotten worse due to trauma and not visiting the nurses, well, until a few days after it happened. What could they say? They were busy.

West looked down at the shard, cautiously placing it down on the oak table in his jungle home.

"What could I say... What could I say?"


	9. Golem

**Hopefully you like this new chapter, hot off the press! Well, digital press, I guess. OMG that rhymes! XD**

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><p><em>Jed POV<em>

Jed really wasn't doing well. He was coughing up blood onto the floor as the nurses and doctors tended to him. There was really nothing to do other than let him heal. He had been given healing potions, sure, but the spots where the dark magic had touched couldn't be healed by medicine. It simply just took time to heal those wounds.

And time took its course. After the length of two weeks, all of his non-magic induced wounds were completely healed, and his magic-induced ones were almost healed. Axel and West had given him daily visits, telling him how it is around the farm, and what deals are on in the store. Axel and West had maintained his home for him.

Jed felt partly bad for putting his responsibilities on his brothers. What can you do when you're sick, though? Even though by nature, Jed was a lazy person, he would rather do work all day than be stuck in this terrible hospital. It was very lonely in there, even though his brothers visited every day. The visits seemed so short, even though they were 3 hours long.

Jed was well enough to walk now, so he walked (with West and Axel supporting him) down the gravel roads sometimes. Axel also brought some of his super-nutritious mammoth soup to aid with Jed's health. The protein helped grow back his torn muscles, and daily cow milk from his own farm helped repair his broken bones.

West explained yesterday when he came to visit about the evil being released. That must've been the same evil that attacked Axel! The same evil that assaulted him... Jed wasn't angry at West, though. Sure, he'd been dumb enough to jump in a giant hole and release a terrifying evil of great power, but nonetheless, it was over, and nothing could be done about it.

Yet Jed had plenty of time to think in the small, crowded, boring room he lived in. He often wondered about the evil and where it went after it wreaked havoc in the village. Maybe somewhere out on a distant land? Maybe under the depths of the ocean? Maybe in a volcano? He didn't know. All he knew was that it was gone, and he could heal and forget about it. Or could he?

_Axel POV_

Axel was still resting from the exertion of rescuing West that other day. He was intending to make a trip into the jungle to check on West. And maybe question him. After all, someone would have to be pretty insane to leap down a giant hole. Unless West was suicidal... No, he had a strong will. His ghost couldn't break him _that _easily.

As Axel walked out to the mine cart track, a snow golem greeted him with a brisk wave. As Axel, waved back, he smashed into something... hard. He feared the worst when he realized that the snow golem's wave was not a greeting. It was a warning.

The snow golem threw a snowball at the mass. It might as well not have done anything. Nothing happened. He was thinking of running when something hit him hard in the stomach. Flying right back into the snow golem, he painfully looked up. The iron golem from before. It was here.

Axel gingerly stood up, shaking excess snow off from himself. He had plenty of time to escape; the iron golem batted him a good eight blocks. But something had snapped in Axel. Ever since rescuing West from certain death, he had felt more heroic. More energetic. More ready to fight. It must have been his instincts telling him. No- instincts would've told him to run.

Axel made a bold decision. Pulling a basic stone sword out of his weathered tote bag, he made a gesture with the sword at the golem. The iron golem obviously comprehended it, for it was heading straight for him. Dodging the first blow, Axel swung at its head. The sword barely left a dent. The force of the strike sent Axel reeling back, giving the iron golem time to backhand Axel into deep snow. He was glad that he had a soft landing. Yet it was _deep _snow, and he was sinking fast.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his head.

Maybe if I could sink faster...

The iron golem was upon him, sending constant punches with its metal arms into the snow. Using the iron golem as leverage, he shoved himself with his sword deeper into the snow.

That'll work. Maybe.

Putting his sword back into his bag, he pulled out an iron shovel. Time for a magic trick- The Disappearing Axel.

_West POV_

West was just finishing gathering some nether warts when the shard spoke. West had become accustomed to its silence, so when it flashed in momentary blue light, he dropped all the nether crop and ran to it.

"The mystery of ages must be solved..." The shard appeared to say. It spoke in West's mind. Not in real sound, or real-time. Just implanted in West's memory, and his other parts of his brain. It could yell and scream all it wanted; no one could hear it other than West. And so he listened.

"What mystery?"

"Many mysteries."

He was tired of these cryptic messages.

"What do you want from me?"

"The answers."

"To what?"

"The mysteries."

West was getting angry now.

"If you don't tell me _now, _I'm not going to listen."

"The mysteries of the soul shards, human. You must solve the mystery of the soul shards. To stop the growing evil from within."

And with that, the light faded, and the shard appeared to be finished speaking. The mystery of the soul shards? It couldn't be a mystery. It was a legend, a myth. Stories passed down from generation to generation to make themselves feel better about the confusing world. The freaking evil that attacked everyone was stored in this thing. How could he trust it?

Walking outside, he decided to make a quick run into town to pick up some coal. Doing so, he noticed quite a commotion down the road at Axel's. An iron golem with soulless black eyes was punching into the snow. Had the evil driven it insane?

About two inches from his feet, a bulge appeared in the snow. It pushed further out, showing a white exterior. Something made of iron. Again it pushed, this time totally shoving all the snow away. It was... A snow golem?

Something covered in snow with a pumpkin on its head jumped from under the snow. It was also wielding a stone sword. That was pretty unusual for a snow golem. In fact, impossible. Snow golems had an AI, or Animate Intellect, of about 9. To put it simpler for those with a bad AI, it wasn't smart enough to even hold a sword.

All of a sudden, it shook violently. Shaking itself from left to right, up to down, it was no longer a snow golem. It was Axel. Why Axel?

"Axel? Get out of the way!"

Yelled West as he jumped on top of Axel to shield him from the golem. He turned around, looking at the golem. West had no weapons. How could he fight? He'd have to fight hands-to-metal. He rushed at the golem, striking it across its face. West could swear he broke his hand. Screaming in pain, he kicked at the golem's groin. He probably broke his foot, too.

Hopping on one leg, he leaped onto the golem's head, kneeing it in the torso at the same time.

_There goes my kneecap. Oh well. _

As a last resort, (and to end the pain) he smashed his face into the iron golem's head. West fell over, knocked out cold.

The iron golem looked over at Axel, as if to say, "Who _was _that?" before once again stomping over to where he lay.

_I'm doomed. _

Axel was tired, cold, and grumpy, for starters. Then there was the "West" problem, as he called it. Yet, as if on cue, a little blue flash erupted from West's tote bag sitting about three feet away.

_I have no idea what I'm doing, but I might as well try. _

Axel began to crawl towards the bag as if his life depended on it. Heck, his life _did _depend on it. He just had to make it before the golem.


	10. Possessed

**Another new TBB chapter to spice up your day! (Maybe) Enjoy!**

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><p><em>Axel POV<em>

Only a few more inches... His hand almost touched the pulsating artifact. If only I could reach... Too late. The golem's rock hard foot smashed on top of Axel's outstretched hand. Axel didn't even feel any pain. Because he knew now that hope was gone. Why had this world have to be so cruel?

The golem kicked Axel away from the shard. Its eyes spewed out purple flame, the trademark of evil magic. The golem from before. It attacked me. _That _was because of evil magic. But hadn't the golem helped him back up? And if the golem helped him before, why attack him now?

Then it all clicked into place. Someone must be controlling the golem to force it into commands like this. Iron golems never purposely attacked Craftians like him. The golem slowly walked to over where Axel was. The clomp of the iron sounded every time the iron golem walked.

Axel felt the cold metal grasp his neck as he was roughly yanked up from where he lay. Axel's toes were a few feet from the ground. He gasped for air. All he could see was the golem's cold purple eyes, with the fire pouring out from all sides.

The magic formed into a hand, and reached for his face. The worst way to die: possessed by evil magic and forced to kill your friends, until you are declared useless and die of corruption. The quiet amber quickly turned into a ferocious inferno, filing into either his mouth or eyes. He could feel his soul heave as the dark energy burnt it.

The golem opened his hand that used to be around his neck. He dropped to the ground silently. The golem then fell over, dead, from corruption of its soul. Yes, even iron golems had souls. The only living beings in the Overworld that had souls were Craftians like Axel, iron golems, snow golems, and villagers.

None knew how golems inherited souls. They were man-made, after all. Some believed in reincarnation. When you die, there is something magical called a _respawn_. That you died and were born again in the same or a different body. No one believed it except for the Notch believers. Being reincarnated into a golem? Now _that _would be pitiful.

Axel gasped, his body twisting and twirling this way and that. He was stretched in inhuman positions, and screamed bloody murder. Then the screaming gradually ceased, forming into a quiet chuckle. He lifted his face to the sky, and let out a strangled laugh of pain and possession. It was more like a scream.

_He had visions of men in hooded cloaks, and of dragons made of dark fire. The evil manifested itself into an exact copy of him, but it was a shadow. "Why did you do this to me?" Axel asked the being. "Why didn't I do this to you?" Axel pondered that. "That iron golem was of no good use anymore, anyways." The shadow smiled. "You're much too easy to take down." A strike sent Axel flying into space. "Even for a pathetic Craftian." The shadow held Axel's face between his hands. "But you'll have to do." _

Through blurry vision, Axel noticed the blue shard right next to him. If.. only...

"No, no, Axel." He said to himself.

"_You can do that some other time_." The shadow inside smirked. But Axel had an idea. If the deadly evil that had been contained in the shard got out, it would have to go back in. Axel swallowed, and threw himself onto the shard._ Exorcising myself isn't as fun as I'd imagined_.

_Jed POV_

Jed stared at the nervous doctor, practically prying into his soul.

"What do you mean, two more weeks?"

"Most of y-you is fine, s-sir, but w-we have to be s-sure."

"_Most _of me? What parts haven't healed?"

"Uh, l-lets, uh, see here..." The doctor stammered, frantically flipping through his papers.

"L-looks like, um, your third rib from the top, your left heel, and one of your t-tendons."

"Tendon, where?"

"W-what do you-"

"_Where in my body are my tendons hurt?" _

"Uh, I, your, uh, your left hand."

"Well, then. Wrap up my left heel, give me crutches, and I should be fine."

"S-S-Sir, that's against p-policy-"

"How many emeralds?"

"Wha-"

"How many emeralds to bribe you?"

"M-Mister, I can't be-"

"Fifteen."

The doctor's face cracked into a huge grin, a nice change from the nervous, pasty countenance from before. The doctor's voice changed into a whisper.

"Alright. I'll write you a quick pass. I need those emeralds, though."

"Check in the mail by Wednesday. It'll be there."

The doctor's pencil hurriedly scribbled across the paper. He handed Jed the pass. His name his unrecognizable through all the messy loops and swivels, but a signature was a signature. The doctor pulled out a cast and crutches. "Now let's make this quick."

_West POV_

West woke with a start, nearly hitting his already bandaged head into a table. Why was he injured again? Oh, yes. The utter failure from yesterday. Who'd even brought him home? It was incredibly challenging for anyone to climb up to his house, situated right on top of the tallest jungle tree. Not even Jed or Axel climbed up there regularly. It was, to say the least, intimidating.

He shivered, and something slipped off of his chest. A note, in Axel's clear handwriting. Catching it in midair, he read aloud, "Nice fail. Nurse said you'll be fine. Nothing broken. I'll check on you in a few minutes."

West wondered how he _hadn't _broken anything. He had, after all, tried 3 or 4 times to attack an iron golem. That _never _ends well, even if you have armour on. He also wondered how Axel had survived. They were both in a state of vulnerability. He was sure the golem could have offed them right then and there.

Axel came in without knocking. He seemed unusually pale. He held the shard in one hand. West's heart sunk. How'd Axel find out?

"Is there something you've been hiding?" Axel glared at him.

"I was, um, just about to tell you." West lied.

"I can tell when you're lying."

"Fine. I found the shard down in the hole. I'm pretty sure that's what unleashed the evil."

"I know."

"And then, I- H-How'd you know?" West swallowed.

"I knew when the iron golem possessed me." Axel's words were pure acid. "That's why the golem didn't finish us off, West. It passed on the evil to me."

West was speechless. Usually in cases where the victims were possessed, they never were the same. Axel was handling this incredibly well.

Only then he noticed it. Axel's right eye began to take on a tinge of red.

"Uh, Axel."

"I'm not done yet, West."

"Your eye-"

"WEST! I _know _my eyes are staring at you. I do that when I'm angry!"

"No, Axel. Your right eye is-"

"What? Blind? Hanging out of its socket?"

"No. It's... turning red."


	11. Asssassin

**_So spoiler alert, I've added a girl into the mix. Yay. This one has lots of dialouge, (ughh, right?) but stay tuned for more relatively interesting (maybe :P) stories! _**

_Axel POV_

"My eye's... what?"

"It's turning red."

He was in disbelief. He already wasn't himself after the possession. He felt simply drained of life.

"Get me a mirror."

It was only when West held up a hand mirror when he saw it. His right eye, beginning to have a red tinge.

"It must be from the evil magic." Axel said as cool-headed as he could, trying not to freak out.

"No vision loss? Anything?" West asked, concerned over this eye matter. What if it was eye cancer?

"Nope. In fact, my vision seems to be _better _in that eye. Strange."

West didn't care about his supposed _better vision_. "Let's go to the doctor."

Axel looked at West, about to get up when he banged his knee on a table. West fell back down onto the bed in pain.

"Correction; _I'm_ visiting the doctor. You stay here and look after yourself."

"Fine, Axel."

It looked like West was trying to think of a question to stall him.

"Well, better get going." Axel stated, heading for the door.

"Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you get me up here?"

Axel smiled. Oh, West...

"I climbed."

And with that, Axel opened the door and started climbing down the treacherous vines to the ground.

_Jed POV _

Jed was already home when he spotted Axel on a mine cart headed to town. It would be pointless to holler at Axel to stop; _everybody _knew that mine carts can't stop when they begin to move. So he just stared. And he noticed that Axel's right eye wasn't the same, even though Axel was a blur.

Jed opened his piston doors and retired to the sofa. He heavily fell onto it, wincing with his fractured rib.

"At least I'm not in that darn hospital." He said out loud.

He remembered his injuries. How it had felt. He couldn't even use his machine, the Iron Lumberjack any more. It had been taken over too long. Wait! Couldn't only living things that had souls be possessed? Well, he definitely put a bit of his soul into this one. He worked so hard on it, he wondered if he'd sold his _entire _soul.

Anyways, that wasn't important. All of this thinking was hurting his head. He _hated _to think. Yet because of the despised thinking, that thinking grated him an idea. A pretty simple one, but a good one at that. I need a weapon. Or maybe two.

So, despite his injuries, Jed got up and leaned on his crafting table. Opening the chest next to him. he planned to craft two iron axes. Looking in, he noticed that he was freshly out of iron. Or any craftable material, for that matter. He leaned farther into the chest, and farther until he tumbled in.

"Great. Just great."

Trying two or three times to get out of the chest, he gave up and lay down for a little. The chest was almost empty, depraved of any materials except for some wool, spider eyes, and-

_What was that_? Jed noticed a green shimmer in the darkness of the chest. An emerald? No, six emeralds to be exact. His heart lit up. Emerald axes? He wouldn't be able to find out, though. Jed was trapped inside a chest.

"You look a bit stuck there." A smooth yet sharp voice came from around the corner.

"Who's there?"

"Name's Violet. You are?"

"You are? More like, why _are you _in my house?"

"I'm looking for a man named Axel."

_Axel_? _My brother_? _What could she want him for_?

"He's in Plainbelle right now. Not sure what he's doing."

Violet looked away. "Okay, then. Goodbye."

Jed couldn't just let her leave!

"Can you, uh, help me out?" He smiled sheepishly.

"Why not."

The girl's grip was surprisingly firm as she yanked him out with strength.

"Thanks." Jed stuttered, a bit shaken from the jolt.

"I'll be leaving, then."

"No, wait!"

"What now?" Violet seemed to be exasperated.

"Can you craft axes with emerald?"

"Only with a Crafter's table."

"You mean a crafting table?"

"No. A Crafter's table is special, letting you craft many different types of things, bird brain."

"How is it crafted?"

"Outer layer stone, inner layer iron, wood in the middle. Got any more stupid questions?"

Jed blushed. "No."

He watched Violet walk out of the door with envy. _How does she know more than me about crafting? Girls aren't taught _anything _about crafting... _

Jed decided to craft the "Crafter's Table." He would need some materials. And it wasn't going to be easy.

_Violet POV_

Violet walked through the bush, swiping at some vines with her dual blades. Why did she always get hired for jobs like this? She _hated _assassinating people. But there was good money in it, so it had to be done.

Axel was the next target on her list, with a bounty of 250 emeralds on his head. How could a small-town guy get so notorious? She didn't have the answer. The village of Plainbelle came into view as she swiped through the last of the brush.

It was a perfect day for the job, she'd have to admit. Wind blowing her way, a sleepy little village, a quiet day. It was just turning light, so it was dim enough. It would be _so _easy. Or that's what she assured herself. Slice in, slice out, disappear. Easy.

She pulled her purple scarf up over her mouth to her ears. Axel just appeared to be walking out of some sort of doctor's office. His name, description, age, and location flashed across papers everywhere. How could someone not turn down the offer?

Sneaking quietly behind Axel, she prepared for the strike. Should she really do this? She'd be taking him away from his brothers. Money over life. Life over money. _Argh! I don't know! _As she raised her left sword up over his head, he turned around.

"What the- AHHH!"

_Exactly _what she didn't want. A big commotion.

"Shut up and let me kill you!" Violet said in a harsh whisper.

She bashed him in the side of the head with the butt of her swords, and was about to seal the deal when a shovel came down onto her head.

"Hey!" She whirled around, rubbing her head. The shovel struck her across the face this time, sending her to her knees. She was _not _easy to take down.

"I suggest whoever did that run _very _fast." She slashed vigorously, out of pure rage, in the direction of the attacker. The shovel then hit her in the stomach. She doubled over, shielding herself with one sword, but the shovel still smashed upwards into her chin, sending her into the air.

Violet landed on her face. What kind of assassin was she? Getting beat up with a shovel when she had two swords? She looked up, seeing an ancient villager with a white Japanese-style mustache looking down. He said nothing. The last thing Violet saw was the shovel come down on her face.


End file.
